ICANN has received a request to delegate the .ไทย domain, a country-code top-level domain representing Thailand, to the Thai Network Information Center Foundation. ICANN Staff have assessed the request, and provide this report for the ICANN Board of Directors to consider.
The “TH” ISO 3166-1 code, from which this application’s eligibility derives, is designated for use to represent Thailand.
The domain under consideration for delegation at the DNS root level is “ไทย”. This is represented in ASCII-compatible encoding according to the 2003 IDNA specification as “xn--o3cw4h”. The individual Unicode code points that comprise this string are U+0E44 U+0E17 U+0E22.
In Thai language, the string has a meaning equivalent to “Thai” in English, and is pronounced the same. The string is expressed using the Thai script.
The Thailand Network Information Center was founded in 1988, as a joint venture between the Asian Institute of Technology and Chulalongkorn University. Its structure was formalised in 2007 when it was turned into the Thai Network Information Center Foundation.
In January 2009, Thai ISPs, business leaders, and government participants held a public forum to discuss, “International Domain Naming System: Effects to the Thai People.” The recommendations arising from this public forum led to the development of a project for identifying an appropriate string and the involvement of key community and government officials to pursue the IDN Fast Track process.
In December 2009, an application was made to the "IDN Fast Track" process to have the string “ไทย” recognised as representing Thailand. The request was supported by the National Science and Technology Development Agency, as a representative of the Thailand Government, and the Department of Linguistics of Chulalongkorn University.
On 22 March 2010, review by the IDN Fast Track DNS Stability Panel found that “the applied-for string and declared variants associated with the application from [Thailand] (a) present none of the threats to the stability or security of the DNS ... and (b) present an acceptably low risk of user confusion”. The request for the string to represent Thailand was subsequently approved.
On 19 April 2010 TNIC presented an application to ICANN for delegation of “ไทย” as a top- level domain.
The proposed sponsoring organisation is the Thai Network Information Center Foundation, a foundation established under Thailand law.
The proposed administrative contact is Kanchana Kanchanasut, Vice Chairman of the Thai Network Information Center Foundation. The administrative contact is understood to be based in Thailand.
The proposed technical contact is Pensri Arunwatanamongkol, of the Thai Network Information Center Foundation.
The top-level domain “.ไทย” is eligible for delegation under ICANN policy, as the string has been deemed an appropriate representation of Thailand through the ICANN Fast Track String Selection process, and Thailand is presently listed in the ISO 3166-1 standard.
The Government of Thailand is in support of this application, as stated in a letter from Thaweesak Koanantakool, PhD., Vice President of the National Science and Technology Development Agency. Further, the support for the Thai Network Information Center Foundation to be the sponsoring organisation is explicitly stated. Additional support has been received from Thaneerat Siriphachana, Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, the Thai Webmaster Association, the Thai Internet Service Provider Association, and the Office of Higher Education.
The application is consistent with known applicable local laws in Thailand.
The proposed sponsoring organisation undertakes to continue to operate the domain in a fair and equitable manner, using the same policies used for the “.TH” domain today.
The proposed sponsoring organisation is constituted in Thailand. The proposed administrative contact is understood to be resident in Thailand. The registry is to be operated in the country.
This application does not involve a transfer of domain operations from an existing domain regis- try, and therefore stability aspects relating to registry transfer have not been evaluated.
Name servers are located on two topologically diverse networks, but within the same geographic area. This meets the formal minimum standard for diversity within the authoritative server set. The main disaster recovery provision the applicant has stated is of periodic backups made offsite and escrow of data on a regular basis, however, principal operations are all in the same physical location.
The application is not known to be contested.
The proposed sponsoring organisation is the current registry for the “.TH” domain. The applicant has provided detail on the operational capacity of the registry to operate the new domain, and has satisfactory registry operational and technical expertise through their existing registry operations.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is tasked with managing the Domain Name System root zone as part of a set of functions governed by a contract with the U.S. Government. This includes managing the delegations of top-level domains.
A subset of top-level domains are designated for the local Internet communities in countries to operate in a way that best suits their local needs. These are known as country-code top-level domains, and are assigned by ICANN to responsible trustees (known as “Sponsoring Organisations”) who meet a number of public-interest criteria for eligibility. These criteria largely relate to the level of support the trustee has from their local Internet community, their capacity to ensure stable operation of the domain, and their applicability under any relevant local laws.
Through an ICANN department known as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), requests are received for delegating new country-code top-level domains, and redelegating or revoking existing country-code top-level domains. An investigation is performed on the circumstances pertinent to those requests, and, when appropriate, the requests are implemented. Decisions on whether to implement requests are made by the ICANN Board of Directors, taking into account ICANN’s core mission of ensuring the stable and secure operation of the Internet’s unique identifier systems.
The evaluation of eligibility for country-code top-level domains, and of evaluating responsible trustees charged with operating them, is guided by a number of principles. The objective of the assessment is that the action enhances the secure and stable operation of the Internet’s unique identifier systems. The evolution of the principles has been documented in “Domain Name System Structure and Delegation” (RFC 1591), “Internet Domain Name System Structure and Delegation” (ICP-1), and other informational memoranda.
In considering requests to delegate or redelegate country-code top-level domains, input is sought regarding the proposed Sponsoring Organisation, as well as from persons and organisations that may be significantly affected by the change, particularly those within the nation or territory to which the ccTLD is designated.
The assessment is focussed on the capacity for the proposed sponsoring organisation to meet the following criteria:
To assess these criteria, information is requested from the applicant regarding the proposed sponsoring organisation and method of operation. In summary, a request template is sought specifying the exact details of the delegation being sought in the root zone. In addition, various documentation is sought describing: the views of the local internet community on the application; the competencies and skills of the trustee to operate the domain; the legal authenticity, status and character of the proposed trustee; and the nature of government support fort he proposal. The view of any current trustee is obtained, and in the event of a redelegation, the transfer plan from the previous sponsoring organisation to the new sponsoring organisation is also assessed with a view to ensuring ongoing stable operation of the domain.
After receiving this documentation and input, it is analysed in relation to existing root zone management procedures, seeking input from parties both related to as well as independent of the proposed sponsoring organisation should the information provided in the original application be deficient. The applicant is given the opportunity to cure any deficiencies before a final assessment is made.
Once all the documentation has been received, various technical checks are performed on the proposed sponsoring organisation’s DNS infrastructure to ensure name servers are properly configured and are able to respond to queries for the top-level domain being requested. Should any anomalies be detected, ICANN staff will work with the applicant to address the issues.
Assuming all issues are resolved, an assessment is compiled providing all relevant details regarding the proposed sponsoring organisation and its suitability to operate the top-level domain being requested. This assessment is submitted to ICANN’s Board of Directors for its determination on whether to proceed with the request.
